driftfleet | Let the games begin!

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Let the games begin!

[several days late, as has been the trend lately, the Shuffle's transmission plays for the Fleet.

...or, it tries anyway. the music doesn't even make it--just a punch of static with sad, scattered pieces of musical notes trying to struggle their way through.

when Diamond's voice is finally heard, it's only intelligible in three little bites.]

--Three disappearing from-- ... --new faces, so-- ... --Captain Halliwell--...

[and then the music blends strangely with other sounds, like someone flipping idly through broken radio stations. it takes some time for anything to come in clear, and every frequency turns up the same interference. it isn't until several minutes later that one signal suddenly stutters into clarity, and music begins to play.

wherever you are, they are playing your song! and if there are multiple people in the room, maybe the speakers nearest to each person are playing different songs, each specific to the closest passenger. and after the signal connects, the speakers will continue to play whatever song they started with, even if different passengers move toward or away from them, and will only play something else when the controls are messed around with. and the signals and machinery will continue to behave in this way sporadically, all through the month.]

ooc: the musical madness has begun! feel free to use this post as a mingle for interactions relating to shuffle day and the ensuing musical chaos. if you have any questions, please post them to the January ooc post!

→ Shuffle ooc post
→ January system ooc post

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Do we know which way the music is coming from? We don't want to fly closer to it right now.

[Shirley has to admit she's actually a little interested, but it would be better to have more information first. This could turn out to be malevolent as easily as not.]

[ There's a small flinch of surprise when Chris looks to the hand on his arm, then he... doesn't pull away. ] Yeah. Yeah, I'm sick of this place already.

Knowing where the music is coming from wouldn't help help us get out of the way. None of us here can steer the ship. [ Trust him, he's tried. ]

[Welp.]

I think we need some kind of special... whatever for that. We can use the shuttle if we decide to bail.

[Varric shuffles out into the hall. They can talk on the way.]

[Shirley follows, looking behind them just in case. There's nothing there, but a quick double-check doesn't hurt. Everyone's here, one two three, and--oh.]

How many shuttles do we have ready?

[She didn't take note of the exact number before when looking around, but it certainly wasn't many for what's supposed to be a five-person ship.]

Two of them.

[ Chris follows almost a bit eagerly when they leave, hands moving in front of him as if to toy with a ring he isn't wearing. It's a nervous gesture. ]

One's enough to hold two people from what I saw and this thing in my head says I know how to fly one, so we should be fine.

[Varric glances over his shoulder.]

Really? You're not going to make a crack about how we can probably fit two and a half in one shuttle?

You continue to surprise me, Prickly.

We have enough, so let's just go. It's good that we only have three people right now. I should be able to take the other one, unless you have more experience.

[Addressing Varric there, of course.]

[ Chris gives Varric a Look. One for encouraging their joke war, and also because prickly? Are you trying to imply something there, shortstuff? ]

Hold up, Shirley. Where would we even go? Besides, you should probably drive. I'm not sure Varric can reach the consoles.

I see you've replaced the stick up your ass with that crossbow. Good to know.

[He flips his collar and continues down the hall.]

Let's check the bridge before we go anywhere.

[This really is starting to sound familiar. If Will were here he'd probably smack them and get moving, but Shirley has neither his discipline nor his physical force so she just lets them be instead.

...Actually, nah. Shirley does go on towards the bridge, but she also tosses in a teasing comment.]

You two are having fun, aren't you? But maybe it should wait a bit.

[ Chris looks at Shirley, a bit surprised and thrown off, then he huffs and shoves his hands into his pockets to both rid himself of the gesture and metaphorically put the snarking away. ]

Right, you're right. Let's see if we can get an idea where all this is coming from. Any of you played with the bridge controls yet?

[Varric nearly calls Shirley a spoilsport, but he decides a long-suffering sigh is probably just as well. He's not about to give her shit when it's a potentially serious situation, not if he doesn't know her that well yet.]

Nope. I didn't want to blow anything up.

[Hey, it worked! Will would be proud.]

Me neither. I've spent most of my time in the lab. You haven't either, Chris?

[ Chris offers half of a grin for the question. ]

I never said that. Was just wondering if you guys got any further than I did. Looks like that's a no... so we'll see what happens when we get there.

[They reach the bridge again eventually. Varric's mostly tuned out whatever weird lullabies he's heard on the way.]

All right, which one of these ominous-looking buttons tells us where we are?

I'm...not sure.

[She's trying to read everything, but the whole control panel doesn't seem very user-friendly.]

We shouldn't just press things at random, but I don't see where to begin either.

[ Chris looks between them, then goes up to the console and begins pressing a few buttons. Maybe it's just easier for him because he actually knows technology or maybe it's because he's something of a perfectionist but he has messed around with the bridge and after a moment he pulls up a relatively simple map of their location. He steps back to let the others see, too. ]

Huh. You see that?

Well, shit. I knew you were good for something.

[He squints at the map.]

Looks like we're in range of another world. Does it look like someone broke off a piece of it to you?

It looks...artificial.

[Maybe not the best word, but it certainly doesn't look very natural.]

And what are all those things around it?

[ Such a look, Varric. He's also beginning to tune the music out but mostly from necessity. At least what's playing on the bridge isn't his own soundtrack. ]

That one, I can answer. Those have to be satellites. But... it looks like nobody would live down there, so why keep an eye on it like that? Especially if it was made somehow.

My guess? There's something important down there. Could be resources, could be an artifact of some kind. You don't set up heavy surveillance on something unless you're an amateur. It just screams for thieves to break in and steal it.

[He examines his gloves, not volunteering his personal experience with that one...]

Maybe it's because somebody made the planet like this that they want to keep watch over it. Like if they made it into something they didn't want anybody else to change.

[Changing the world's geography. That's familiar.]

[ Chris is silent for a while, staring at the screen before he begins hitting more buttons. Those satellites are coming in clearly by the moment as he finds the CSI ENHANCE button. ]

That's not security... Those are advertisements.

[He glances at Shirley. There's a story behind that...]

That could be it, too.

[But then Chris does something with the screen, and Varric has to look at it twice before he understands what he's seeing.]

Advertisements? That's crazy. Who's even here to see them besides us?

[Shirley's eyes widen when Chris brings up the close-ups. She's never seen satellites before, but they're so...loud. Could there be a reason for that?]

Well, there's everybody on the other ships. And we're being watched, right? So maybe whoever's watching us can see this too.

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